abraxaslogs | [OPEN] June Pre-event

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[OPEN] June Pre-event

Who: Relena Peacecraft and You
Where: Down in the Dimmadamn Dungeon
When: Before WormFall
What: Reposting TDM prompts... Getting to know people in her cell and the yard... maybe nabbing people for info. Continuing threads and
Warnings: N/A for now.

Captive... Again

[ This is not the first time Relena Peacecraft has been held as a prisoner. It is not, she assumes, the last.

For as much as the situation is, thus far, completely different than her usual experience with being held captive - no ramblings about how they were going to hoist her position and legacy around for their own gain - her poise is the same as ever.

She's ringing out her hair the best she can after being tossed in here, shivering with her teeth set, but will drop her task and get to her feet when another body is shoved into the cell with her. She gets up and slams her hands into the bars in frustration at the guards. ]

You don't have to be so rough with them!

[ A huff. She shouldn't lose her cool. The ex-queen of the world, the ex-princess of a kingdom of peace... if she loses her head, she will be useless. Her morality and her words are all she really has to help people in a world like this where she can't use her reputation as a platform to move things forward towards peace.

She doesn't know why she's in here or how it has all happened, but she can't let the futile feeling rolling in her guts to swallow her whole.

She turns to her new roommate and holds a hand out to them if they haven't yet stood on their own. She smiles, sad but steady. ]

Are you alright?

Chow Time

[ The food is... surprisingly okay.

While Romefeller and even Mariemeia's faction had fed her normally (because they 'weren't savages' and a roughed up Relena Peacecraft was no good to show to the public or use as a pawn), she didn't expect the same here.

Still, her appetite is pretty null. It's hard not to want her mother's comfort. She never wants to be a person that needs to rely on Heero and burden him further, but at her age, it's hard not to want that person here in some capacity.

But that is selfish and she won't allow it to sit on her shoulders for too long, but it does sink down into her stomach and makes more than a few bites of meat a struggle.

She takes her tray and pushes it towards someone else in her cell, smiling carefully. ]

I'm... not really hungry. I don't want it to go to waste, so if you or the others want to split it, please do.

Visitors

[ Relena can't be sure of the divide between the people shoved into the cells and the people who have, now and again, been creeping into the dungeon to quench their curiosity. In a way, she assumes a political body with conflicting views to the kingdom might be... less than favorable to have in their midst. She can't do much for them otherwise, in her opinion, than act as a diplomat, but what good would a diplomat that doesn't align with them do? These are all assumptions, but assumptions based on her life's experience.

She walks her way up to the bars and holds onto them as one of the curious visitors wanders through, trying to get their attention. ]

Excuse me, may I ask you something?

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[When Estinien is deposited it is, indeed, rough - from the pinkness of his face and the bit of blood coming from his nose, it looks as if he's just been in a fight with the guards. He's dragged to the cell doors stiffly as if restricted by unseen bonds, and it's only once he's on the floor of the cell that he seems able to properly struggle. His long white hair, still heavy with wetness, hangs raggedly around his face. His eyes are wild and cutting like a man that clearly has murder in his thoughts.

He can hear Relena's protestations, but it's taking him a while to absorb them. He flinches away from her when she offers a hand, his gaze flickering to the bars as they close behind him. He lunges towards them, far too late to escape, gripping them with his chained hands even as he remains partly crumpled onto the ground.]

Whoresons!

[He shouts after the guards, shaking the bars what little he can. It's only after that his gaze flickers back to Relena, still wary like a cornered animal.]

[ It is already unjust that they be held captive for someone else's mistakes. To be treated so roughly? Horrible. They have had no trial, no jury, no fair reading of why they are such heinous beings. They are simply cast down here with no chance to absolve themselves, let alone retaliate.

Relena's not surprised when Estinien pulls away from her as she offers help. It wouldn't be the first time she's been in this position. This time, compared to the first time she'd met Heero on that beach, she's patient about it. She sucks in a surprised breath when he flings himself towards the bars, but forces her body to relax again, waiting with her hands folded in front of her. No, she shouldn't work herself up. Let others be upset. She's a person who should be put together on these occasions so she can support others. It is the only thing she can do when she doesn't have the ability to go and sway things with her words.

Let him get it out... after all of this, people need to shout and kick and throw their fists against the walls, don't they? Not everyone is used to captivity.

She keeps a calm expression on as he looks at her finally, keeping in place, all of her 5 foot self stood straight and steady. She repeats herself, just a bit more softly: ]

Are you alright?

[Slowly, the thunderous beating of his heart begins to wane, some of the buzzing in his ears receding. He can make out her words this time, even as his knuckles whiten around the bars. He tries to pull himself up, to straighten his shoulders.

His breath shakes with tension as it hisses between his teeth.]

Nay. [He is not one to soften his words. However, he does note Relena's wet hair, her matching shackles - has the same happened to her?] I cannot stay in this place...

[ It's the type of answer Relena expects and she can't agree more. She doesn't have the physical abilities to do much about her situation in here, but the agitation is all the same. There are things she needs to be doing. She has no time to be here. ]

Neither can I. I don't have any means for getting out myself, but if I can help you with anything... though even if someone can get outside, I'm not sure how to return home from there.

[He's presently in the sort of mental state where it's hard to know how to deal with someone being straightforwardly helpful - he shakes his head a little to himself, touching his jaw gingerly. There will be a bruise there later, he's sure of it.]

You... You were pulled through as well, then?

[His words are tense and clipped, but not aggressive - not towards her at least. He keeps having the impulse to reach for his lance, but it isn't there, a pit of emptiness at his back and in his hand. It's been so long since he wasn't armed that it feels shocking to be without it, like the air around him is too thin, and his skin is too sensitive.

This is helplessness he hasn't felt in some time.]

Yes, they pulled me out of it... maybe an hour ago? Then I ended up in here. I haven't been able to get much information yet, unfortunately.

[ It's not exactly easy to get the guards to talk. They have no interest in her and she is only so persuasive right now. Perhaps she'll find a more loose-lipped guard later, but... ]

I'm sorry, I'm being rude. My name is Relena Peacecraft. I'm sorry we've met under such circumstances.

[He can't imagine how she thinks she's being rude given the circumstances, but he won't argue the point now. He pointedly slows his breathing, trying to get himself into a more constructive frame of mind. His fight instincts are overwhelming him, and it won't do him any good while he's in chains. He feels drunk on it.

He has no idea who this girl is, but he can tell that she's going. Her relative poise suggests to him that she's a noblewoman, perhaps? From the way she speaks, he could easily be a Hyur from Ishgard itself... and he hasn't had the time to put together that this world isn't his own.]

I am Estinien Wyrmblood. The Azure Dragoon. [Former Azure Dragoon, really, not that anyone seems to heed that part... he says it carefully, in a way that seems to suggest that she might recognize his name.] I know not how they have bound my aether, but... I cannot...

[He shakes his head again.]

What nation is this?

[ Relena listens with care. She has no idea what he's talking about... but she assumes if it is important, he will explain it to her with time if there is time. She can't expect a full run down of where he's from and what that title means off the cuff, not when he's injured and frazzled. ]

Thorne, I've heard. I've not heard much else. I'm afraid I've never heard of it myself, either. This place couldn't be my world with the magical presence here... so I'm a little short on insight right now.

[Now this makes the clear where she is already a step ahead of him. Estinien is still under the impression he's on Hydaelyn, after all - nothing he's seen yet would be implausible to find there, or even on one of its twin shards. Someone speaking of a world without magic, though... what could that mean?]

The aether of your home is different...?

[His confusion is obvious, a niggling vulnerability in his gaze seeming to suggest he is realizing this is worse than he had imagined.]

[ Things are too different for her to presume she's still in her world. Too many concepts from the world and others that don't match her reality. Too many places and names that are far from her understanding. The only thing she can grasp is that everything is far from reach right now. ]

I'm sorry, but I'm not sure what aether is...

[ Maybe more magic? Or something totally different. She's curious all the same. ]

[To him, this is roughly the equivalent of someone saying they're not sure what air is. His first assumption is that she does know what aether is, and that maybe she simply knows it by a different name. He can imagine being on a different shard, but a different star...?]

Tis the lifeblood of the star, the source of magic itself... and yet...

[And yet, he doesn't feel it here. He doesn't feel his own aether either. What has just happened to him?]

That sorcerer has done something to me...

[He starts trying to get up.]

[ Again, Relena shakes her head, almost looking apologetic. The context didn't help after all. ]

Sorry. Like I said, magic doesn't exist where I'm from. It almost sounds like it's in the atmosphere of your world? But... even then, it's just a guess.

[ She approaches him with caution as he goes to stand. She's not sure if they hit him in the head or not. She's small, but she'll offer support anyway if it looks like he needs it. ]

You look hurt. Or do you mean something else?

[Magic doesn't exist. Not that she can't wield it, like a Garlean, but it doesn't exist. His head feels foggy with stress and with the exhaustion of travelling to this world. His body is heavy in ways that it shouldn't be and that he hasn't had to deal with for a decade now.

He presses his back against the wall, trying to support himself. He seems reluctant to be more physically vulnerable than he has to be. He shakes his head, feeling like he's trying to communicate in a foreign language.]

They've severed something in my spirit. My power is gone.

[ Estinien looks so unsteady on his feet, but she keeps her distance still. She has learned to be just a bit more cautious than she used to be. He's got every reason to be wary, just as she does.

When he says things more plainly, she nods. Even if she doesn't understand 'aether', she can understand that something is just missing in him. Maybe it's why he's supporting himself on the wall. He almost looks a bit pained to her. ]

Doing that to you, to anyone... it isn't as if we asked to be here. I'm sorry, they shouldn't have taken that from you.

[He can't help but think that if they hadn't, they might have ended up in more trouble than they bargained for. Yet, still... even as he was pulled from the water, it felt muted, distant. It was only when the mage did something that it disappeared entirely. To keep him from being 'troublesome'.

He's humiliated and furious. To have such a primal part of himself tampered with, to have his freedom taken away so trivially. His head swims with it. Relena, a compassionate presence who deserves none of his ire, is all that keeps him from folding inward completely.]

You as well, then... how many other souls have them damned on a whim?

[He looks down at his shackles, his fists clenching.]

[ Relena looks out beyond their cell, listening to the murmuring and shouting of other voices. People are cursing and rattling the bars of their cages. Doors are creaking open and slamming shut as new arrivals are dragged in. It's painful and she curses her own powerlessness. ]

I wonder... it seems like more are still arriving, but I don't know how many they planned to bring here in the first place. Or maybe they're just bringing as many as they can on a gamble to see which ones pass whatever standards they set? I'm just making guesses at this point.

[He listens to her guesses, his attention finally being drawn to their surrounding. A cell for four, it seems, and not much room to spare. The beds, for their part, look fine - but are likely far too small for someone of his stature. It's not barbaric, by any means, but it makes it no more welcome.

He has defensive energy to burn off, and no space to do it, no enemy he can fight. He fidgets with his shackles, starting to try to force one of them off of his wrist. What can he do? What is he good for, like this? He looks truly lost as he gazes at the interior of his new cage.]

Then there are those they've accepted...

[It has seemed as if his 'failure' was not the first, but also not the only result so far.]

[ Relena watches him fidgeting, wondering if a large man like him can get his own shackles off. Who knows how strong he is, even without magic? ]

Yes. Some have been wandering down, I think, to check on us or at least see what's been done to us. I haven't heard them having any better idea about why they're acceptable and we are not, though.

[If the shackles were less heavy he may have more luck - not that the frailty brought on by the transition is helping. He's refined his body to be a weapon, with or without dragon aether, but the odds have been stacked against him.

All the same, he wanders inwards towards the bunks. His step is still unsteady, but he seems stubbornly inclined to handle himself. He stares into space, bracing himself against the frame of the beds.]

They will come to regret this. [His words are quiet but harsh.] I shall make sure if it.

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[OPEN] June Pre-event

captive... again

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